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View Full Version : Do power tubes affect tone?

shooto
10-31-2007, 02:59 AM
do 6L6s sound differently than EL34s...tonally- say, more mids?
SatelliteAmps
10-31-2007, 06:34 AM
Yeap. There is a large noticeable difference between the two tubes.
frankencat
10-31-2007, 06:42 AM
Does a bear.......nevermind :)
Old Tele man
10-31-2007, 08:40 AM
Does a bear.......nevermind :)
...yes, that's WHY wildflowers bloom in the forest...well fertilized!
shooto
10-31-2007, 09:30 AM
...and why wild rabbits are brown :)


ok....what's the difference?....I've never been able to A/B them-

could I get a more middy sound from EL34s?
Old Tele man
10-31-2007, 11:15 AM
6L6 is a beam power TETRODE with "hard" vacuum, and has a rather "hard/abrupt" Eb-Ib "knee" between its "diode line" and plate cutoff....so it "quickly" approaches current/voltage limitations when driven into maximum signal cutoff

EL34 is a power PENTODE with "medium" vacuum, and has a rather "soft/rounded" Eb-Ib "knee" between its "diode line" and plate cutoff...so it "gradually" approaches current/voltage limitations when driven into maximum signal cutoff
shooto
10-31-2007, 11:36 AM
ha...thanks- can you translate that into stupid for me?
Old Tele man
10-31-2007, 12:45 PM
ha...thanks- can you translate that into stupid for me?
6L6 sounds like FENDER
EL34 sounds like MARSHALL
loudgtr
10-31-2007, 12:53 PM
6L6 sounds like FENDER
EL34 sounds like MARSHALL


Doh! :crazy

:RoCkIn



6L6 big 'bell like' clear tone.

EL34 softer tone



:munch
shooto
10-31-2007, 01:12 PM
great!...that's what I need- what about accenting mids?...do either do that?
epluribus
10-31-2007, 01:26 PM
6L6 is a beam power TETRODE with "hard" vacuum, and has a rather "hard/abrupt" Eb-Ib "knee" between its "diode line" and plate cutoff....so it "quickly" approaches current/voltage limitations when driven into maximum signal cutoff


...6L6 sounds like FENDER

Aha!

I've been trying to remember...a while back, discussing the "II" series Fender amps, somebody said they never really liked the way Fender amps push into anything more than light overdrive, particularly Blackface circuits. They described the sound as harsh and uncomfortable. Haven't been able to retrieve the thread or the writer, but this would address that question. If 6L6s (and 6V6s, though the data sheets describe both simply as Beam Power Tubes.) have an abrupt knee, that would explain some of what my mystery writer was describing. Hmmmm, I say...

--Ray
Kiwi
10-31-2007, 03:29 PM
great!...that's what I need- what about accenting mids?...do either do that?

If you need extra mids, check out amps with KT66 tubes in them. It's a variation on a 6L6 tube; or, to put it another way, some 6L6 amps can be modded to take them. I've always thought of 6V6 amps as kind of middy, too.

The tech guys can explain the whys and wherefors, and generally set me straight. Then there's the whole discussion of how good (or not) modern KT66 tubes are.

Power tubes are part of the sound, but they're not all of it. It can depend on how an amp is voiced. My experiences: EL34 amps' clean tones can include a stiff bottom end and a glassy, crystalline top - or what we think of as Fender response. Then you really push them and the raging mids emerge. An old blonde Bassman with 6L6s sounds like a sweet toned Fender till you crank it, and then you think, "Hmmmm, old school Marshall."

This being TGP, opinions will vary, and you can expect violent disagreement in posts to follow...

=K
frankencat
10-31-2007, 03:36 PM
6L6 sounds like FENDER
EL34 sounds like MARSHALL

Agreed. Also...

6L6 = rounder, fatter
EL34 = tighter, crunchier
John Phillips
10-31-2007, 03:51 PM
Agreed. Also...

6L6 = rounder, fatter
EL34 = tighter, crunchierAgreed again.

Also...

6L6 = deeper, more glassy
EL34 = more complex, biting
tradarama
10-31-2007, 04:15 PM
Each brand and years (in some cases) sound different too....NOW you've joined the CRAZY bunch